


Roundabout

by orphan_account



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of addiction, Multi, Possible mature topics in later chapters, Teacher AU, idk - Freeform, maybe swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-04-17 06:32:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14182971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Virgil Sanders is the new school secretary, and he's ready to forget about the things that happened before this new job. With new friends and a seemingly new life, there's no way his past could creep back up on him...right?As they say, history sometimes repeats itself.





	1. And They're Off

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So, this is my first Sanders Sides fanfiction! I'm more used to writing fanfictions for musicals, but I thought I'd take a stab at this! I don't know if this has been done before, but let me know what you think in the comments and if I should continue this!

  Typically, the first day of school was only dreaded by the children who had to return to their torturous sleep schedule only to go to the “group prison cell” for eight hours five days a week. However, on a particularly warm August morning, Lone Ridge High School’s new secretary, Virgil Sanders, was trying to make the tough decision to either sacrifice his new job in order to have a few more hours of peaceful sleep or get up and begin his day. Of course, he chose the latter. Partly because it was dumb to sacrifice a well paying job for three extra hours of sleep, but also due to the fact that if he didn’t get up right then, he would miss his bus and then he’d have to walk the five and a half miles across town to get to work. That sure as hell wasn’t happening, so in a matter of minutes he was dressed and running out the door while gnawing haphazardly on a granola bar. When he was finally able to stop running and catch his breath, he took his seat on the bench in front of the bus stop, just in time for his morning panic.

_   Did I make sure I locked the door? Did I turn off all the lights before I left? Oh god, my electric bill’s gonna be insane if I left the lights on- _

  He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of shouting and something hard making contact with him. The next thing he felt was something splashing all over his once pristine gray shirt. After a moment it fully registered to him that what had crashed into him as a person, who was trying to recollect himself. 

  “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I’m not usually clumsy like this, I’m just in a rush to get to work this morning.”

  It was a couple more odd seconds of the two trying to stand and clean everything up. Once that was in order, and the stranger had made his apologies quite evident, the awkward silence that followed was almost deafening. Finally, the strange man cleared his throat and began to speak.

  “I’m Roman. Roman Prince, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” There was a brief pause from the other, who was still trying to figure out his debacle about his shirt considering it was his first day at a new job and he was terrified of first impressions enough without a giant stain on his shirt, but finally managed to respond soon after.

  “Uh...look, I could accept your apology and exchange formalities all day, but I start a new job today and I don’t really wanna start it off with a coffee stain the size of Antarctica on it, so if you’ll excuse me-” 

  Roman paused to catch a glance at the awful stain he had caused, and proceeded to rummage around in his messenger bag at his side. It was then that Virgil noticed that Roman was wearing rollerblades, which was most definitely the reason for the collision that had just taken place. Suddenly, a dark red shirt was being thrust in his face. He looked up and saw how the other was holding the shirt out for him to take. “Here. I always keep an extra in here, just in case.”

  “...In case what? You crash into a random stranger and spill coffee all over them?” Virgil asked sarcastically, smirking a bit to indicate he wasn’t angry.

  “Well, mostly in case anything happened to me, but it works if it helps a damsel in distress.”

  “Wow, you’re really taking your last name seriously, aren’t you?”

  Roman cracked a smile. “Always.” A beep snapped the two out of their slight staring contest and Roman sighed loudly before silencing his phone. “I’ve got to go before I’m late to work...I never did catch your name.”

  The bus pulled up at perfect timing for Virgil, and he decided to be playfully snarky as he boarded. “I didn’t throw it.”

******

  After finally arriving at the school, Virgil quickly ducked into the restroom to change his shirt before anyone could see him. Thankfully, the shirt fit him almost perfectly, and honestly didn’t look bad on him. That Roman guy had pretty good taste. Well, good for a guy who rollerblades to work and crashes into guys who are still half asleep and spills lukewarm coffee all over him.

_   Wow, this morning was weird. _

  When he walked into the office a few minutes later, he was greeted by a man leaning against the counter with a file in his hand. He was wearing a light blue polo shirt, with a gray cardigan wrapped around his shoulders and a pair of glasses resting on his face. When he caught sight of Virgil, his eyes lit up like he had just discovered the best thing in the entire universe. 

  “Oh, hi! You must be the new secretary! I’m Patton Hastings, but you can just call me Pat! I’m the school counselor here, and I love making new friends, so don’t be afraid to stop by my office at lunch or whenever you have free time! A couple of the other teachers usually eat lunch with me in my office because the teacher’s lounge can be too much sometimes, and you're absolutely welcome to join!"

  Virgil softly introduced himself and listened as the other talked to him, trying to stay focused but the realization hit him that somebody was trying to befriend him and it felt as though his entire being completely shut down. He had no idea what to say or do, so he simply nodded his head and waited for Patton to say his goodbyes and leave before he sat down at his new desk with a sigh. He began to sort through the various forms and files to begin his job, and answered a couple of phone calls before a new face appeared in the office. This man looked similar to the last one, only taller, with a shorter haircut, and a black shirt and tie rather than the other’s previous, more laid-back style.

  “Oh, hello. I assume you’re our new secretary? I can also assume that you’ve also already met Patton as well? He was waiting for you to get here. He’s a very...friendly person.”

  Virgil just laughed awkwardly and nodded, setting the papers he was sorting aside to once again engage in a conversation with someone he didn’t know. “Uh, yeah. He’s very uh...different, huh?”

  “Yes, I believe that’s an accurate description. He is very kind though, and although he wears his heart on his sleeve, he know when it’s time to be serious. He’s very passionate about his job. Oh, where are my manners? I’m Mr. Roberts, but since we are co-workers, you may call me Logan. I teach Trigonometry and AP Biology.”

  “I’m Vi-”

  The door opened again and someone walked in with a large stack of books in his arms. “Someone please help me out here before I drop these! And let’s face it, they’re for the arts, so we won’t get replacements anytime soon.”

  Virgil was able to stand up and help the poor guy, but the voice sounded way too familiar and by the time he figured it out, Logan had already started to help him.

  “Roman, why on Earth would you try to carry all those books at once?” he asked, setting the books onto on the of the nearby chairs.

  “I needed to get them all to Ms. Razner before second period. She’s starting the new school year by making her students copy down vocabulary terms. I think she’s hungover or something. Who knows?” Roman joked, a wide smile on his face until he turned his head and locked eyes with the man behind the counter. “Hey, coffee guy!”

  Logan looked at the two with a perplexed expression and crossed his arms to further display his confusion. “Wait, you two know each other already?”

  A slight smirk appeared on Virgil’s face as he nodded slowly. “Yep, he spilled coffee on me earlier today.”

  “On accident! I don’t just go around pouring coffee on every guy I see. I’m not some kind of coffee stain slut.”

  Virgil had to bite his lip to hold back a laugh, and obviously Roman just had to take notice.

  “Ha! You laughed! So you DO have emotions!”

  Logan decided this was a good time to leave and said his goodbyes before slowly making his way out to the group of tired and already bored teenagers.

  “Of course I have emotions. I’m not a robot,” Virgil mumbled, sitting back in his seat and grabbing the papers he had set on his desk earlier to finally put them into their respective files.

  Roman walked over to the desk, but the bell that rang prohibited him from saying anything he wanted to. “I’ve got to get these books to the choir room, but I’ll see you later.” He made his way towards the door with all the books now once again stacked in his arms yet more stable than before. “How long do I have to wait before you tell me your name?”

  Virgil chuckled softly before answering just as the bell rang again. “You’ll find out soon enough!”

_   Oh my god. This year is gonna be insane. _


	2. First Steps First

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunchtime chaos ensues, Roman's theatre geekness shows, and Virgil tries to make friends (but finds it difficult)

  Virgil got through morning announcements without a problem, especially since the former student council president was nice enough to take the reins while he got started on answering emails and sorting out the files in the cabinet next to him. Organising kept him focused and on task with what he needed to do. So did coffee, but he was afraid to go to the teacher’s lounge to grab himself a cup partially due to the incident that had occurred that morning making him fear any more caffeine-related stains, but also because he wasn’t in a mood to risk having to meet new coworkers so early in the day. That was a task he wished to tackle slowly over the next few weeks. Less anxiety for him.

  Closer to lunchtime, he had been visited once again by Patton, who continued to encourage him to eat lunch with all the other socially awkward teachers. He almost fell like he was back in high school as a student, with all the different social groups and cliques, rather than an adult staff member who pays rent and has a college degree. Nevertheless, he accepted and watched the counselor jump up and down excitedly like a giant toddler. Virgil wasn’t exactly all sunshine and rainbows, especially at 10am, but seeing Patton’s reaction made it difficult for him to suppress a smile. He could tell he wouldn’t be able to be an introvert at this school. Besides, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to.

  The 11:45 bell went off right on time, signalling Virgil’s lunch break. He grabbed his lunch bag from under the desk and left the office as he tried to remember where the counsellor’s office even was. He began to mentally curse himself for having such a terrible memory, before he finally stumbled upon the room. It was impossible to miss. The door was literally a rainbow, with different photos of baby animals tape to it. It looked like a five year old’s bedroom door, but Virgil wasn’t one to judge. He reached for the handle before a loud crash from inside the room caused him to jump back about ten feet. _What in the hell-?_

  He finally gained the courage to open the door after a solid minute of staring at the knob. What he saw first made him simultaneously stare in total confusion and struggle to hold back a laugh.

  Roman was sat on the floor surrounded by tables on their sides, rubbing his back while he glared at Patton and Logan, who were both laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe.

  “See? That’s what happens when you try to tap dance on unsturdy tables! I don’t think your ‘Lunchtime Theatre’ idea is gonna work, Ro,” Patton managed to get out, pausing occasionally to catch a breath through his giggle fit.

  Logan began to pick the tables back up as Roman continued to sit on the floor and sulk. “Aw, but that was a really great idea for the drama club this year! The sophomores were brainstorming last year and that idea really resonated with the entire class. Maybe we can do songs that don’t involve tapping on tables? So King of New York is left out...that song is so iconic though! Maybe we could take it down a notch to start out though. Maybe something from RENT-”

  “Roman, I’m not sure a lot of the songs in that musical are lyrically appropriate for a high school audience,” Logan reasoned, helping the teacher to his feet. It was clear none of them had noticed the secretary in the doorway yet.

  “They have a high school version!”

  “...That sounds awful. The explicit parts in that show are what distract you from the parts that make you feel like your heart is being ripped out through your esophagus,” Virgil piped up, immediately covering his mouth with his hand when he noticed he had chimed into the conversation that he wasn’t even originally a part of.

  Patton’s eyes lit up when he turned his head and caught a glimpse of Virgil. He squealed just a little as he ran over to him and took his hand to lead him to the other two teachers in the room. “Guys, this is the new secretary I was talking about, Virgil!”

  Roman smirked when he finally got to hear his name and shared a silent victory that the shy staff member could clearly notice in his eyes.

  There were a few seconds of semi-awkward silence until Virgil finally spoke up. “Uh, yeah I met Logan this morning...and Roman spilled coffee on me before school started.”

  “You did _what_?!” Patton screeched, looking at the man in question with a shocked expression. Logan simply smirked, eager to hear the story that he didn’t hadn’t had the chance to hear that morning in the office.

  “Mr. Drama Nerd over here crashed into me when I was waiting for the bus. Spilled coffee all over my shirt,” Virgil explained, crossing his arms in an attempt to look more confident and less like a nervous wreck who was terrible at making friends.

  Roman maintained a dramatic stance, but turned his head towards the clueless men to explain. “I was skating to work and lost control. The coffee wasn’t hot, don’t worry! No third degree burns.”

  Patton and Logan both nodded in understanding, causing Virgil to be caught off guard by how in sync they seemed to be. “Now I know where I recognize that shirt,” Logan replied, pointing to the dark red shirt Virgil was wearing.

  “So...is your lunch hour always like this?” Virgil asked softly, looking between the three as they exchanged small smiles. Roman and Logan moved to the arrange the tables back together and Patton handed Virgil a cup of ice water.

  “Usually we sit down and eat and talk like normal people, but sometimes Roman gets an idea and as his certified best friends, we are obligated to listen to them and/or try to talk him out of them if they’re terrible.”

  Virgil hesitantly took a seat at one side of the connected tables and began to pull out his lunch, a bunch of grapes and a granola bar. He wasn’t usually hungry during the day anymore, and he tended to get anxious when he knew other people were watching him eat, so he usually stuck with foods that he knew wouldn’t make him look like an idiot when he ate them. “So, you three are all friends?”

  Roman grinned proudly at the question. “Best friends since third grade! It’s amazing we’ve stayed friends this long, even more amazing that we all became teachers at the same school we once went to- what the hell is that monstrosity you call a lunch?” he asked, pointing at the food in front of Virgil and making the secretary's face go red with embarrassment.

  “Roman, don’t make fun of someone’s eating habits! ...But can you go order two pizzas, please? I didn’t bring my lunch and I wanna share,” Patton replied to Roman’s outburst, making Virgil feel slightly better. He ate his food in silence until the pizza arrived and Patton asked him if he’d like a slice. After turning it down twice, he finally gave in, his stomach surprisingly welcoming the warm food. He had had pizza for dinner all that previous week, but it was still good in his opinion, because it was food and he wasn’t picky.

  He couldn’t exactly afford to be picky, anyway.

  “So, Virgil, what did you do before you came here?” Roman asked, trying to start a friendly conversation with the new staff member as he shoveled another slice of pizza into his mouth.

  Silence.

**_Just one more, then I’ll quit._**

_FUCKFUCKNOABORTMISSIONVIRGILGETOUTOFTHEREBEFOREYOUUNLEASHPANICATTACK9000_

  Virgil tensed at the question and sat there in awkward silence for a few seconds until he was literally saved by the bell and he shot out of his seat. “Uh, this has been fun, but I gotta get back to the office. Phone calls to make, emails to write, y’know. Thanks for the pizza, uh, bye!”

  And with that, he was out of the room, leaving three perplexed and highly curious teachers alone with their thoughts and new concerns for the secretary.


	3. Come To A Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil goes out with the others, learns something new, and has new encounters with old demons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up way longer than I expected! I finished this at 4am (the time I'm posting this) Anyway, I hope you enjoy! I'm waiting for someone to guess what's up with Virgil (I'm simultaneously making it difficult and painfully obvious) but yeah! Please excuse any typos I'm wayyyy too tired to proofread, so I'll do it in the morning. Enjoy!!

  The end of the school day showed up quicker than Virgil had expected. He woke up that morning thinking the day would just drone on and on, but he supposed the lack of being totally alone like he normally was played a role in the way time passed in his mind. However, even though the school day was over for the students, he and all the other teachers would be there for another few hours to wrap up the day and prepare for the next.

  He continued highlighting a document for the principal to read over, already bored with the mundane task, but remained diligent regardless. He still had several phone calls to make, emails to answer, and ink cartridges to replace in the printers.

_   This. Bites. _

  “Havin’ fun there, sunshine?” A light voice asked, and Virgil didn’t even need to look up to know it was Roman who had just walked in. Still, he couldn’t keep his eyes from moving up to the drama teacher, who was now leaning against his desk with a smirk on his face. It almost made him smile, but he settled for a playful eyeroll and moved his attention back to the half-highlighted document in front of him.

  “Depends on what you mean by ‘fun’. For the past thirty minutes I’ve been wondering if it’s too late to change my occupation. Does that count?” The secretary asked in a monotone voice that clearly lack enthusiasm. He capped the thin yellow highlighter he was now starting to use as more of a drumstick than an office supply and set it aside to take a quick break.

  Roman chuckled softly and Virgil faked an offended expression by the fact that the other was amused by his emotional turmoil. “You’ll get the hang of it soon enough. Our last secretary was a fifty-nine year old woman who terrorized the students…and some of the teachers, as a matter of fact. Trust me, you’re already a blessing to this school.” There was a silence that followed as Virgil blushed and Roman fiddled with the arrangement of pens and highlighters in the cup on the other’s desk. “So, what are you doing after this?”

  Virgil tensed for a moment, unsure what to say in a moment like this. That was a phrase he had only heard in movies and tv shows, and often one he made fun of for being dumb and cliché. He had never heard them out loud and certainly not directed towards him. Despite this, he answered back with a witty remark. How else? “Wow, so spilling coffee on me  _ was _ a flirting tactic, huh? I wonder how I missed that.”

  “You wish I was asking you out on a date, huh?” Roman shot back smoothly, the smirk still evident even though Virgil thought he noticed a bit of shock pass through his eyes. “No, the three of us were gonna go out to celebrate the first day of school going smoothly without any raves or detentions. We were wondering if you’d like to join. You deserve a celebration more than the rest of us.”

  Of course, at that exact moment the other two teachers in question walked into the office, both laughing at a joke presumably Patton made. “Virge! Are you coming?” The counselor asked, grinning from ear to ear, causing Virgil to wonder if he ever had any chill whatsoever and hope that he never used that nickname again.

  The secretary had to think about it for a moment. “Where would we be going?” he asked, knowing very well that what they answered with would determine whether or not he could accept their invitation. He hated that. He wanted to just accept without having to ask so many questions. But he couldn’t.

  Welp, that was his fault.

  “Just out to a restaurant. Patton doesn’t drink and Logan only drinks during big social occasions, so we don’t go to bars or anything. Especially during school nights,” Roman answered, glancing between his best friends and Virgil as he talked, as if he couldn’t keep his focus on one individual person for a long period of time. Virgil could only describe it as a caffeinated hummingbird with ADHD.

  The secretary took a deep breath after a while and nodded. “Sure. I’ll tag along. Might turn my mood around after all this paperwork I gotta get done. Why did I choose this job?”

  “You must be really good at staying on task! I mean, you have so much to do, and you look like you do it so well! You’re so good at your job!” Patton enthused, grinning and bouncing on his toes.

  Okay, Virgil took it back that  _ Roman _ was the one that was like a caffeinated hummingbird with ADHD.

  “I mean, I guess? I’m just good at procrastinating so having so much to do and so little time makes me stress and get it all done within a reasonable time. I used to be terrible at being put under a lot of pressure, but it’s easier when I just hide my anxiousness with unhealthy amounts of stress…and caffeine.”

  The three other men nodded in total understanding, since they were teachers after all, and they had all shared similar experiences of stress, deadlines, and being forced to focus due to procrastination. “Well, we’ll be heading out around five. Think you’ll be finished by then?” Roman asked as he glanced at the clock.

  Virgil thought about it and estimated the amount of work he still had ahead of him before nodding slowly. “Yeah I should be. I could always answer emails when I get home anyway.”

  “You can’t expect to get through every single email, Virgil. There should be about two thousand emails, if not more. A good portion of them are from some of the students looking to mess with you. Others are from the faculty, but if it’s that important, they’ll definitely resend the email in question. My advice to you is to trash any of the ones that are over a week old to save yourself some time and patience,” Logan suggested, and Virgil did as instructed.

  “Thanks, Logan. You sure no parents are gonna come for my head?”

  Logan shook his head and groaned at the sound of his watch beeping. “I have to go lock my classroom.

  The sound of Roman laughing made Virgil jump just a little from how sudden it was. “Dude, you still have an alarm set for the exact time Jackson finishes cleaning your classroom?”

  The Trig teacher rolled his eyes and brushed him off before saying his goodbyes and leaving. It wasn’t long before the others left as well, and the quiet of the empty office returned to Virgil’s ears, but this time he actually had something to look forward to.

******

  “Hey Patton, I bet that you can’t get the waiter’s number.”

  Virgil’s head shot up from the table where he had been staring at the menu for the past ten minutes trying to determine something cheap for him to eat. Two things in that sentence made his heart rate pick up, but he chose to ignore the first one and focus on the latter. His eyes grew wide and his mouth almost fell open. Waiter? Is in, male server? Boy food bringer? Dude meal distributor?

  Patton giggled and closed menu he had in his hands.”How much are you adding to this bet, Ro?” he asked, noticing Logan roll his eyes as Roman pulled out a twenty and placed it on the table.

  “Go big or go home, am I right?”

  “Famous last words,” Virgil mumbled before he could catch himself. Thankfully, nobody heard him, so he cleared his throat to address the giant homosexual elephant in the room. “So…Patton’s gay?”

  Roman visibly tensed and his posture turned to something more protective while Patton smiled and Logan decided to provide the actual context. “We all are, actually. And no, before you ask, we’re not in a relationship together, none of us have been in relationships with each other, and no, none of us have feelings for each other just because we’re gay,” he explained, though his voice wavered a bit more towards the end.

  It was then that Virgil figured out that they thought he had a problem with it and first, internally laughed at the absurdity of him possibly being a homophobe, and second, corrected his previous question with an explanation. “Oh cool, I’m gay too…I kinda figured Roman was gay by the way he was flirting with me this morning…and this afternoon-“

  “I was not flirting with you this afternoon!”

  “Roman, while we were leaving the school you literally told me that I’d have to start wearing your clothes more often since I look so hot in them,” Virgil replied with a laugh.

  Roman didn’t respond, but pointed as the waiter walked up to the table. As they ordered their food, Patton attempted to flirt with him, but it was then that Virgil realized the counselor was trying to flirt with him with  _ fucking dad jokes _ , which actually did made the waiter laugh somehow.

  So much, in fact, that he lifted his left hand to his mouth, showing off the shiny silver band on his ring finger.

  The waiter excused himself to bring them refills, and Roman broke down into laughter as Patton pouted and handed Roman the money. “You cheated again!”

  Virgil completely froze at the comment.

**_"You cheated again! How the hell can you play something like that twice in a row?!”_ **

  “…Virgil? You okay?”

  The soft tone helped Virgil pull himself from his thoughts and avert his gaze to the three concern men around the table, Roman looking the most concerned of the three of them.

  Virgil faked a soft smile and assured the three that he was fine, continuing the meal and forcing his brain shut those other thoughts out.

******

  After they had all finished the meal, they made their way to Patton’s fairly new light blue car and tried to decide where the night should take them next.

  “Hm…how about an arcade? Some of the games might be rigged, but they’re still fun to play!” Roman suggested with a wide smile, making Patton’s face light up and Logan to nod.

  “Ooh, can we go to the one we used to go to all the time as kids?!”

  “Patton, I’m pretty sure that one is shut down. It went out of business a few years ago.”

  “Aw, no! That place was so much fun!”

  “Virgil, an arcade so good to you?” Roman asked Virgil, who was leaning against the car thinking sincerely if he could do that.

_   Arcades may be just games, but there’s still that risk… _

  “Uh, actually, I’m getting pretty tired. I think I’m gonna take a bus home,” Virgil replied sheepishly, sticking his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

  Patton looked somewhat hurt by his statement, but gave an understand smile. “No, no! Let me drive you home! You shouldn’t take the bus this late at night! There’s a lot of meanies out at this time!”

  “…Meanies, Pat? You have a Master’s degree and ‘meanies’ is the best word you could up with?” Logan asked with a perplexed yet clearly amused grin.

  “No really, you don’t have to Patton. I live across town and I don’t want you to go through all that trouble-“

  Patton held his keys up and jingled them. “No, it’s not trouble Virge! I love driving! And besides, I love spending time with new friends!”

  “…Pat, you are the adult embodiment of a five year old,” Roman said with chuckle.

  Patton shrugged. He couldn’t argue. Roman was right.

******

  Virgil returned to the peace of his apartment less than twenty minutes later. Well, twenty minutes not included the additional five minutes of Patton putting their numbers into Virgil’s phone and everyone putting Virgil’s number into theirs. It was obvious that it was Patton that entered their numbers because each number had a nickname that was a terrible pun. “Lo-gi Bear” for Logan, “Roman’s Empire” for Roman, and “Patton Pending” for himself. It was kinda dumb, but it made Virgil laugh. This was weird. He had never had a person take a liking to him, certainly not this quick, and certainly not a group of them! Nevertheless, he calmed his worries of this all just being a prank on the new guy by writing down adjectives of how he felt, just as he had learned in last week’s meeting, and moved to the dry erase board in his kitchen. He grinned at it for a moment before erasing the big “274” and writing “275” in it’s place. He was proud of that ever growing number. And with that pride in his heart, and the surprising optimistic feeling for the future, he decided to go to be before he got too lucky and fell into a panic attack.

  He had finally got a comfortable position when he got three new messages back-to-back on his phone. Reluctantly, he picked the nightmare rectangle up from the nightstand and unlocked it, tapping on the messages in order. The first was from Patton, saying how much he enjoyed hanging out with him and his friends and asked him to keep eating lunch in his room with them. He accepted the invitation with a soft smile and moved on the next, which was from Logan. Again, another text about how he enjoyed spending time with him and his friends. It was weird just how synchronized Patton and Logan seemed to be. They must spend a lot of time together.

  The final message was from Roman. It was short, only two sentences, and it somehow managed to make Virgil laugh and make his heart stop.

_   Roman’s Empire: Wanna go get coffee sometime? I promise not to spill it on you this time. _


	4. The Duel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman, Logan, and Patton perform. Virgil makes a discovery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song mentioned in this chapter is The Duel from Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. I'm letting my theatre nerd side live through Roman.

  The first official full week of school was simultaneously filled with interest and boredom for the new secretary, especially since that week consisted of him filling out documents, asking for the principal’s signature, and using what he once thought was an insane amount of whiteout and staples.

  However, on the more interesting side of the spectrum, he had been spending more time with the other teachers he had begun to befriend. After Roman’s request to go out for coffee, they had gone back in forth in playful banter and had finally agreed on having lunch on the following Saturday, when the both of them were finally getting into the steady rhythm of starting a new school year. Virgil was excited for the upcoming…was it a date? He wasn’t sure. Regardless, he was looking forward to it and began to resent the slow-moving clock on the wall that didn’t seem to bother him during his first few days on the job.

  Lunch times were definitely never boring, since almost every single time we walked into Patton’s office he’d see Roman singing some type of show tune at the top of his lungs while performing the song as if he were on Broadway.

  Speaking of which, as Virgil walked down the hall he could already hear the techo-sounding music coming from the counselor’s office. He slowly turned the knob and peaked into the room, noticing everyone had already arrived and Logan and Patton were watching with a surprising amount of interest at Roman’s attempt to play every single role a song Virgil did not recognize.

  “So, what musical is this one from?” Virgil asked with a smirk as he walked into the room and took his place standing next to Patton and Logan. The two laughed softly and held up a finger momentarily.

  “ _The doctors warn me that with my corpulence-_ “

  “Corpulence!” Patton and Logan responded, as if on cue. Logan chuckled a little and turned towards the secretary to give the explanation he clearly requested. “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Roman’s played and sang the song so many times we all pretty much know it by heart by now. Just wait, it gets better.”

  Logan was definitely right, it got better. Not too long after, Patton began to sing the role of a girl who Roman explained was named Helene, while Logan assumed the role of somebody named Dolokhov. Roman was singing as a man named Pierre, and Virgil stood there, confused yet clearly amused.

  “Drink, drink, drink. God, to think I married a man like you!” Patton sang disgustedly to Roman, catching Virgil off guard. They all continued to sing and act out the song, up until the music stopped.

  “Enough! You bully, you scoundrel! I challenge you!” Roman cried, and Virgil was completely stunned. Holy shit. He knew, obviously, that Roman was a drama teacher, but _fuck_ his acting was incredible. Logan followed with a sly remark, and Patton returned a stern statement, with Roman firing one back at him. Ten seconds later, Roman and Logan were reenacting a duel, using bananas as pistols. Bananas. _Fucking bananas._ Virgil could barely comprehend how weird and hilarious it all was.

  A minute or so passed, Roman’s character had apparently won the duel, and the three teachers began to sit and eat as though nothing had happened. Virgil stood there in slight confusion for a few moments before deciding to just take a seat and ask questions in a moment. 

  “So…what was-“

  “That was art, Virge,” Roman interrupted, grinning brightly even though he was still breathing kind of heavily. “That was art.”

******

  The final bell ringing at the end of the day made Virgil’s heart soar as he watched the sea of students pour out of the front doors to the awaiting buses and cars for those who drove home. He liked the kids, of course, but he had a long day of dealing with a few angry parents whose children had skipped school, fixing printers, refilling staplers, answering emails, and craving the sweet release of death. Along with that, he needed to leave early. It was Thursday.

  After signing out of the school’s computers and gathering his things, he locked the office up as he had gotten into the rhythm of doing and made his way out to the bus stop down the street. He made it out to the front of the school, only to hear the sound of shuffling and whispers from around the corner of the school.

_Fuck. There’s kids doing drugs. Damn it, I don’t have time for stoner kids today._

  Virgil slowly began to sneak up to the corner, ready to move and catch the kids in the act. Hopefully, there was a faculty member with a higher authority who could deal with it. He waited for a moment before quickly stepping out around the corner.

_HA, I got them- wait what OH SHIT_

  Either Patton and Logan had somehow super glued their lips together, or they were making out **_on school property_**. Virgil honestly could believe the super glue idea with Patton, but he knew believing that idea was basically denying the truth.

  The two immediately pulled apart when Virgil caught them, tossing their glasses back on their faces before beginning their pleas to not tell anyone what he saw.

  “Hey, Virgil!” Roman called when he noticed the secretary standing by the school, walking over towards him. The counselor and the trig teacher both gave Virgil desperate looks and shook their heads, standing as quiet as possible so Roman hopefully didn’t hear them. Virgil pulled a faked smile and walked away from the corner, but not before giving the two a look of “ _you owe me_.”

  “Hey. You headed home?” Virgil asked the drama teacher as his fake smile softened into a real one, brushing some of the hair out of his eyes. He was getting anxious. He needed to get to that meeting on time. He couldn’t ruin the perfect track record he had going. If he did, he might break it.

  Roman nodded and glanced at his watch, smiling. “Yep. I was just wondering if you were hitching a ride with us. Patton and Logan should be out here any minute now. Huh, that’s weird. Logan’s usually a stickler for being somewhere at the right time.”

  Virgil thought back to what he had just witnessed and bit his lip to suppress any snide comment his mind could conjure up. “Uh, no I’m alright. I actually got a thing tonight.”

   “Oh, well I’m sure Patton could drive you. He likes helping anyone out. I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

   “It’s alright. I’m fine with the bus,” Virgil insisted, his hand beginning to shake a little. He really needed to get to that meeting on time.

  Roman reluctantly dropped it, and allowed Virgil to leave after confirming their date for Saturday. While Virgil was on the bus he wondered why he was keeping everything such a secret. Perhaps it was due to him not wanting to risk losing his job, or because it was definitely not just a casual lunch discussion. Maybe it was because he didn’t want any of them to think differently of him if he told them.

  The bus came to a stop in front of the community center, which should’ve just been renamed to Virgil’s Second Home at this point. After all, it was a better alternative to what used to be labeled as he second home.

  He made his way into the room with a soft smile, greeting and making light conversation with a few of the many people he recognized. The tone was no longer somber, as it used to be during his first meeting that he had been literally dragged to, but instead more familiar and empathetic. Peaceful.

  People began to take their seats, and Virgil nodded in the direction of one particular man in a leather jacket and sunglasses, who nodded in response and smiled, sipping his typical Starbucks drink as the meeting began.

  Introductions made their way around the circle they made with the chairs in the room, until it came to Virgil. He took a deep breath, smiled softly, and began.

  “Hello, my name is Virgil, and I’m a gambling addict.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI THIS CHAPTER IS SHORT AND KINDA BORING BUT I FELT BAD FOR NOT UPDATING AND I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK LIKE A BITCH. This story is probably only gonna be like 10-15 chapters. I'm terrible at long fics. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!


	5. No One Else

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil meets someone new, Patton and Logan talk to Virgil, and Saturday's lunch date turns into something more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi I wrote this while tipsy so I'm sorry if it doesn't make any sense. Just let me know.

  Friday morning was the first time he had shown up early to work, rather than just on time. The only people that seemed to be there were the janitors and the cafeteria staff getting ready for the day ahead. Virgil took this as a perfect time to have a few moments to get himself some coffee and get caught up on what he could guess would be hundreds of emails he got since leaving the office the previous day. He wasn’t even dreading it. Not even a little.

  Meetings seemed to work like magic for him. They were his weekly therapy, where he could go and talk about anything he needed to talk about and nobody could judge him. The people at GA just seemed to really understand him, and that was definitely what he needed. 

  He slowly walked into the teacher’s lounge where, unsurprisingly, there was not a single teacher in sight. However, the coffee maker was in plain sight, so he began to make his caffeinated saving grace in the peaceful silence. He’d never admit it, but sometimes it was good to arrive to places early.

  As he stood there and watched the machine begin to brew the coffee grounds into the faculty’s wake up juice, his mind slowly started to wander to what he had witnessed before the meeting last night. Logan and Patton were  _ kissing _ . This raised so many questions in the secretary’s mind. Were they together? Were they just friends with benefits? Did Patton and Logan’s mouths just suddenly grow magnets and end up accidentally connecting? He really wanted to know, but he knew it was really none of his business. If either of them wanted to talk, then they’d mention it. If not, Virgil wasn’t going to ask and risk total awkwardness from either one or both of them.

  The sound of the door opening and closing pulled the staff member out of his thoughts as he looked in the direction the noise came from, only to see a guy he’d never seen before. Huh. That’s funny, he thought he had already met everyone. The man looked at him and immediately sauntered up to the secretary with a smirk. “Haven’t seen you arrive early before. It totally doesn’t make you seem too afraid to show up when everyone else has arrived.”

  Virgil blinked, completely shocked by the other’s choice of words, especially since he didn’t even know who the other even was. “Uh...sure?”

  “Oh, forgive me. Where are my manners? I’m Mr. Dolion, the debate teacher. Funny that you’ve yet to meet me.” The teacher remarked with a certain unrecognizable tone in his voice, extending a hand for Virgil to take.

  The secretary accepted the handshake, although his grip was a little firmer than usual. The man was beginning to irritate him for reasons unknown. “Mr. Sanders. Virgil, actually. I’m sorry for that, I’m usually in the office all day.”

  “Or having lunch with the geek squad, hm?” Mr. Dolion hummed, pouring himself a cup of the coffee Virgil had just made. After tossing in random packets of sugar and pouring in some cream, he began to walk away. “This was nice. We should talk more, Virgil. You seem like a  _ very  _ interesting person.”

******

  As he took his seat in his office chair for what seemed like the billionth time, Virgil was beginning to get the typical morning blues he got each day when he seriously considered just quitting and carrying out the rest of his life working at McDonald’s. Turns out the good mood that had carried over from the previous night’s meeting had worn off quickly as the coffee took its own effect.

  He was just about to start dozing off at his desk when the sound of the door opening pushed him back awake and looking at least somewhat interested. When he noticed it was Logan, he actually did become interested and greeted the teacher with a soft smile. “Hey Logan. What’s up?”

  The bio teacher cleared his throat and straightened his tie, something that Virgil had picked up was a nervous habit the other had when he had something important to talk about. That made the secretary sit up a little straighter in his seat. “I felt like I needed to speak to you in regards to the events that occurred yesterday afternoon.”

  “Uh- no, don’t worry about it. I won’t tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me.”

  “Excellent. You should also know that the relationship between Patton and me is still platonic. We aren’t together. I’m not in love with him or anything of that nature. We merely use kissing and such as a outlet for our hormonal fixations and pressures.”

  Wow. That was a little too much for Virgil to know. Then again, Logan was more focused on people knowing facts than anyone’s comfort. “O-Okay. Got it. Say no more.”

  It seemed that was what Logan needed to take the hint that Virgil wanted to drop the conversation, and not too long after, he left to prepare for his next class. The door didn’t open again until after the bell rang again, signalling the end of first period. This time, the door opened and Virgil looked up to see Patton, smiling despite some other emotion hiding in his expression and body language.

  “Hey! How’s your day going so far, Virge?”

  Welp, looks like Virgil wasn’t getting rid of that nickname after all. Oh well, he actually kinda liked it. “It’s fine. Logan was in here not too long ago.”

  Patton perked up a little bit and grinned slightly. “Really? What’d he say?”

  “He just explained what I saw yesterday. Nothing else. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

  “Ah, okay. Thank you.” The counselor took a breath, a small smile playing on his lips. “I love him, you know.”

  Virgil froze.  _ Shit _ . Didn’t Logan just say…

_   Fuck _ .

  “I really do. I’m mean, I’ve loved him as a friend for so long. Roman too. But I’ve been  _ in  _ love with Logan since the fifth grade. I don’t know, he just makes me so happy and-”

  The bell cut Patton off, and Virgil had to mentally pray to every deity that he had literally just been saved by the bell as the counselor bid him adieu and walked out of the office. How should he go about everything with this new information? Forget it? Tell someone? Ugh. This only meant one thing.

  He had to call a certain someone to come over after work.

******

  “Ooh, a scandal? On your first full week of work? Seems like your life really _is_ turning into a soap opera, Vi.”

  Virgil rolled his eyes and scrolled through the endless list of tv shows and movies on his tv, nothing really popping out to him until the sound of loud slurping broke his concentration.

  “Do you mind? That sound could break down padlocked doors!” he cried, throwing a pillow at the man next to him. “I thought you were gonna stop drinking coffee anyway. It’s bad for you.”

  Remy shrugged a bit, setting the empty Starbucks cup on the coffee table. “We’ve all gotta have our own vices, dear Virgil. Besides, it’s better than the alternative.” He stood up to take the cup to the trash can in the connected open-spaced kitchen. “You should feel lucky, being one of the very few who only ended up in GA and not in AA too. Hey, speaking of which, there’s this guy in AA who’s really cute and he’d be absolutely perfect for yo-”

  Virgil immediately shook his head. “No. No, no, no, no, no. Remember last time you tried to set me up with someone in AA? He asked me to drive him to the liquor store just so he could look.”

  Remy sighed and walked back over to the couch before tossing a throw pillow at the other man. “That was my fault. He had only been in the program for a couple of weeks. This guy’s been in AA for over seven years. He’s really sweet! Please?”

  “I would, but...I’m kind of already seeing someone,” Virgil mumbled, looking back at the TV to avoid the look on Remy’s face. He missed the look, but not the squeal.

  “What?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

  “Rem, they literally told me that when I choose my sponsor I shouldn’t talk to them about my personal life.”

  “And look at you now: nearing a year on the wagon and best friends with your sponsor. You’re doing great, Vi.”

  Virgil smiled as he thought about that ever-growing number on the dry erase board in his kitchen, but snapped out of it when he realized what Remy was doing. “Flattering me to get me to spill? Wow, you’ve reached a new low.”

  Remy groaned loudly and fell off the couch, pouting at Virgil like a child trying to get his way. “Pwease? Just spill a little tea?”

  The other man rolled his eyes, realizing he was in no way going to win that argument. “His name is Roman.”

******

  “So that’s why Patti LuPone is a well deserved goddess. Thank you for coming to my TED talk,” Roman joked, stealing a bit of ice cream out of the small tub Virgil was holding.  The two had gone out for lunch earlier in the day, but afterwards the two decided not to waste the beautiful Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day together. Now, here they were, sitting on Roman’s fire escape overlooking the city as they each ate their own tubs of ice cream and occasionally stole bites of each other’s. 

  “You really have a passion for theatre, huh?” Virgil hummed, waiting to swallow his bite of double chocolate chunk before asking the question that made Roman grin and nod enthusiastically.

  “Yep! It’s just so magical, all the music and lights and sets. It’s the ability to tell stories that make people laugh and cry, and let everyone ignore their own lives for a couple hours. It gives people a mutual home, even for a short amount of time. It great.”

  Virgil smiled at Roman’s enthusiasm, noticing how close the two of them are and leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. He noticed how Roman blushed and it made Virgil’s stomach flip, unsure if it was in a good way or a bad way.

  “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable or-”

  Virgil was interrupted by the feeling of Roman’s lips on his, both nicely warm and a bit cold from the ice cream. It wasn’t over-the-top or a high quality fireworks kiss or anything like it was made out to be in the movies and romantic tv shows. Instead, it was better. It felt both familiar and new, but like home. Like he could definitely get used to it. 

  Roman pulled away with a gentle smile before wrapping his arm around Virgil’s waist, giving Virgil the opportunity to rest his head on Roman’s shoulder and feed him a spoonful of ice cream with a collective chuckle between the two of them. 

  They both talked all night, and Virgil finally took a cab home at 2am after a bittersweet goodbye kiss from Roman. On the cab ride home, he took the time to think of everything he did and didn’t say. He wanted to tell Roman about his past, and about his current status in Gambler’s Anonymous, but he couldn’t. He didn’t want to ruin all the potentially good moments they could have with the shame of the life he used to live. He didn’t want to do that. He couldn’t.

  What he could do, however, was walk into his kitchen once he returned to his apartment, change the number from 283 to 284, and go to bed with a happy, finally optimistic smile on his face.


	6. Wish I Were Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan opens up to Virgil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Mental Disorders (Bipolar depression, and delusions) and Mentions of Attempted suicide

  Virgil finally fully began to get into the rhythm of the new job and the new school year around early October. He was replying to emails faster, getting fewer papercuts, and helping out students and faculty members with relative ease. On top of that, he was spending more time with his newfound friend group, especially Roman. The two of them went on a date almost every week, either going to a fancy restaurant or eating fast food in a nearby park. They clearly had a connection, and were definitely interested in each other, but they weren’t calling themselves a couple or anything along those lines. It seemed like they were both just trying to get to knowing each other better, which was honestly ideal for the both of them.

  The day was going by at a typical pace, neither fast or slow and Virgil was keeping up with all his tasks like a piece of cake. When his break arrived he decided to take a walk through the hallways and fully explore the school since he never really had a chance to before the school year began. The school was oddly quiet as the classrooms were filled with bored students and teachers droning on and on about subjects they couldn’t care less about, leaving the hall almost eerily quiescent.

  As he approached the arts wing, he could hearing the faint sound of a piano coming from the music room, but only one instrument in play. Slightly perplexed, he decided to investigate, and peaking into the window through the door to see Logan sitting in front of the piano, playing the keys effortlessly as he looked in concentration. His fingers danced across the ivory and ebony keys quickly, sometimes loud and sudden and sometimes soft and slow. Virgil made a real effort not to disturb the teacher as he slowly stepped into the room, eager to hear more.

  The music stopped after a few more minutes of playing and Logan, without even looking in Virgil’s direction, started to address him. “Do you know how to play?” he asked, his tone lacking its usual professional and studious tone and taking on a more comfortable and almost childlike demeanor.

  “Uh- no. I tried to learn in high school, but the music teacher scared me,” Virgil responded, earning a hum of understanding from the biology teacher. There were a brief few moments of silence as Logan’s eyes scanned back over the keys, and then he began to play again, but talked as well.

  “I started playing when I was about three. We had a grand piano in the living room and I’d play it day and night...well, if you count playing as banging on the keys and pretending I was playing along to a symphony. My parents agreed to pay for lessons and before you know it, everyone was calling me a prodigy and a piano whiz, even my mother...my mother…” Logan’s fingers momentarily stopped pressing keys as a recollection of memories of his mother crossed his mind. 

  “My mother wasn’t...there. She...I don’t think there was a moment before I was sixteen when I saw her sane.”

  Virgil just sat there, absolutely stunned. He had no idea what to say.

  “I had a brother. Gabe. He died when he was eighteen months, before I was even born. After he died, my mother sort of shut down. She became a bipolar depressive, had frequent delusions. Often, she hallucinated Gabe there with us, like one big happy family. All the while, she stared at walls, threw things down the stairs, made dozens of sandwiches at a time on the floor, had meltdowns at the store…” he had to stop himself before he got too worked up, his key pressing taking the route of his mood and getting louder, angrier, “...missed my recitals and hid in the car in the parking lot instead...After a while, the visits to the psychopharmacologist weren’t working. She grew frustrated. Flushed her pills. I had begun dating a boy, Henry. He was so sweet. A stoner, yes, but still sweet. My father invited him for dinner when he went to drop me off one night. He agreed. I begged him to go. However, my father assured me everything would be fine.

  “He was right...at first. We ate dinner and talked like a normal, functional family. I was almost impressed with how well my parents seemed. Then...my mother brought out a cake, singing Happy Birthday to the son who hadn’t aged for seventeen years.

  “Henry left, time passed, my mother saw a new psychiatrist...tried to kill herself, then ended up being treated with electroshock therapy. She forgot about Gabe for a little while, but we had to fill in nineteen years she had forgotten. After a while, she left us. Went to her parents to gain a sense of independence from my father. We muddled through, I got a full-ride scholarship to college, got my degree, became a teacher, and now...now I’m here. Playing piano, and recalling the days of blissful ignorance when I was a child and I’d play and get lost in the keys as my parents fought through my mother’s episodes and grieving of the child she seemed to love more than the one she still had.”

  There was a long pause of silence when Logan finished talking, and Virgil couldn’t think of a thing to say that wouldn’t sound cheap.

  “...I don’t know how you did it.”

  Logan chuckled lightly and stood from the piano as he adjusted his tie and took a deep breath. “I just reminded myself before recitals that my chance to get out of the dysfunctional routine was just a sonata away. There was a time before my mother left that we spoke, the first and only time she was painfully honest with me. The first and only time I really understood her. All my life I always thought I stood in Gabe’s shadow, even though he wasn’t here. But...talking with her that day was when I really seemed to get it...get  _ her _ . As a kid, I didn't understand, I thought it was my mother's fault for why we couldn't have a normal life. But now, after that talk...I don’t blame her for how my childhood turned out. She...We got through it.”

  The bell rang shortly after and the flood of students could be seen through the window crowding the halls. “Well, we better get going.” Virgil paused as he reached the door and looked back at Logan. “...Do Patton and Roman-”

  Logan nodded. “Yes. They know. I had to explain when all those times as a kid I had to turn down ideas of us spending the night at my house. Though, I’d rather not bring it up in casual conversation. It is a very personal matter that does bring me a slight bit of trauma.”

  “Of course. I understand.”

  “Thank you, Virgil. For understanding...everything.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, Logan's backstory comes from the musical Next to Normal, mainly because I found similarities between Logan and Natalie and I thought it would be an interesting take on him. Hope you guys liked this chapter!


	7. In the Middle of the Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's first sick day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to continue this fic, but updates might be hella scarce because my motivation is *poof* gone

It was three months into the school year when Virgil had his first sick day.

He could tell from the moment he woke up, too. His head was pounding, his vision was blurred more than it usually was during his early morning routine, and he was sneezing sporadically.

_Wait, no. That’s not right. He wasn’t sneezing. He was coughing. Yes, he was coughing so loud the neighbors most likely could hear him._

At first, he tried to get ready for the day and get to school, but he had to stop when he tried to walk out by using the closet door rather than the front door, and just called the principal to explain why he couldn’t come into work. He then retreated back to his room, and back to sleep in an attempt to get rid of the awful pounding in his head that had begun to make him nauseous.

The next time he woke up, it was noon and quickly approaching one. His headache was less prominent, but still there, and his coughing had not ceased. He sat up and felt like his headache only got worse when he did so. After a couple of minutes spent trying to decide whether or not he was in real life or some sort of weird dream state, he picked up his phone from the nightstand and scrolled through the array or missed calls and unread messages. The calls were mostly from Roman, with one or two each from Logan and Patton as well. The messages were all from a group chat the four of them had, which was Patton’s idea, of course. Virgil opened the chat and scrolled up to where the first message came from, taking a moment to let his eyes adjust to the bright screen before reading.

_[6:45am] Patton Pending: Do you guys wanna get breakfast before school?_

_[6:46am] Roman’s Empire: $ur3 th1ng! T3ch w33k $tart$ 0n M0nday and 1 can u$3 all th3 3n3rgy 1 can g3t now_

_[6:48am] Patton Pending: Y are you typing like that_

_[6:51am] Roman’s Empire: 1’v3 alway$ typ3d l1k3 th1$_

_[6:51am] Patton Pending: No you haven’t pls stop_

_[6:52am] Roman’s Empire: Alrighty. Are Virgil and the human alarm clock up yet?_

_[6:55am] Lo-gi Bear: Yes, Roman, I am awake. As for Virgil, that’s to be determined since he has yet to respond to any of these text messages. Patton, I am afraid I have to decline your offer for breakfast as I have previously promised my grandfather that I would visit my mother this morning due to my first period class being moved to fifth period. I hope you understand._

_[6:55am] Patton Pending: Aww, of course! Tell your mom hi for me please!_

_[10:08am] Roman’s Empire: Guys I’m getting kinda worried since Virgil isn’t answering my calls and he didn’t show up for work_

_[10:23am] Lo-gi Bear: He called in sick this morning._

_[10:23am] Patton Pending: WHAT_

_[10:24am] Roman’s Empire: oh no_

And that was when the phone call from Patton was made. Virgil felt bad for sleeping through all the calls and texts. Typically, when he was sick he slept like he was dead. Regardless, he decided to send a quick text to help calm them all down.

_[12:37pm] Virgil: I’m fine. Just a cold. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow._

He sent the message and hit the home button, clicking on the phone button and pressing Remy’s contact to try and reach him. After a couple rings, it stopped and there was a bit of fumbling heard on the other line, presumably the man trying to switch his coffee and his phone each to different hands. “Hey girl, hey!” he chirped, which was only interrupted by Virgil’s coughing. “Ugh, you sound like hell.”

“I feel like hell. Can you come over?”

“I don’t get off work until three. Are you good until then or do you need me to come over now?”

Virgil thought about it for a moment and shook his head, until remembering Remy couldn’t hear him. “No, I’m good. But you better bring me some tea when you come over.”

“You know I never come over without tea, whether it’s physical or metaphorical.”

**

Virgil heard a knock on his door around two, which surprised him since there was still another hour before Remy was off of work and he wasn’t expecting anyone else. Thankfully, he was now dressed in something slightly classier than pajamas, and slowly crept up to the door to look through the peephole to see who it was.

_Roman, Patton, and Logan. All holding a variety of items labeled “Get Well Soon”._

The secretary opened the door and was about to greet the three with a smile, but was interrupted by a particularly violent coughing fit. Ugh, he hated this. The tired, awful, foggy feeling he couldn’t get rid of no matter what kind of medication he took. It sucked.

Roman set the items he had aside and gently rubbed Virgil’s back to help him through the coughing, smiling when it all subsided and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “You’re burning up, Virge. Pat, did you bring anything for a fever? He feels like he just took a jog across the Sahara.”

Virgil groaned and plopped down on his couch as Patton looked around in the bag of various medical supplies he and Logan had picked out from the store and always kept in his car in case of emergencies. He pulled out some DayQuil and handed it to Virgil, who happily took it. Anything to get rid of his current mood of wanting nothing more than to step onto a highway during rush hour.

“Surprise! We wanted to try and help you feel better, and what better way than to be surrounded by your friends?!” Patton said excitedly, careful not to be too loud and make Virgil’s head hurt worse.

The four of them talked for a while in Virgil’s small living room, with Roman sat next to the sick boy with his arm around his shoulders and occasionally checking his temperature. While in the middle of a conversation that had seemed to be redirected to musicals for the fourth time, Virgil heard a click of his doorknob and the sound of footsteps, signaling Remy had finally arrived. Oh no. Remy was here. His sponsor. Of course, Remy wouldn’t tell them he’s Virgil’s sponsor, and Virgil could just easily tell them they were friends since that was also the case, but having Remy and Roman in the same room together was going to make it even harder for Virgil to keep the truth of his past from the drama teacher he was beginning to grow so fond of.

“Alright, I got your tea and a few random rom coms that aren’t _too_ stereotypical- oh. I didn’t know you had company over,” Remy announced, pausing when he walked in and looked around the room. “Hey Patton! I didn’t know you and Virgil knew each other!”

Virgil looked at Remy with a perplexed expression, then back to Patton, who looked just as equally confused. “Hey, Remy,” Patton responded, his head tilting a bit to the side like a confused puppy. “How do you know Virgil?”

“Oh he’s just a friend of mine. He asked me to come over earlier, but I was working.”

The conversation quickly moved to something more trivial, but Virgil was no longer paying attention.

_How does Patton know Remy, and vice versa?_

Somehow, the five of them all ended up watching a few of the rom coms together, and not too long after the third movie, Patton, Logan, and Roman had to leave.

“Well, this was fun! We should all do it again soon!” Patton suggested happily, standing up and stretching before pulling his keys out of his pocket. “Alright, everyone hitching a ride with me, let’s go!”

Roman turned to Virgil with a smile. “May I have a goodbye kiss?”

“Do you seriously wanna kiss me after I just spent all day today nearly hacking up a lung?”

“…Good point. I suppose merely kissing your hand will have to suffice until your lips are no longer germ infested,” Roman replied dramatically as he pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Virgil’s hand.

“Actually, lips are always germ infeste- you know what, never mind.” Logan said with a yawn, too tired to bring up disturbing facts about the human body.

When the front door closed and five people dropped down to two, Virgil looked at Remy and crossed his arms.

“How do you know Patton?”

“That movie sucked. Why do the plots always go with the ‘slight misunderstanding leads to total derailing’ scenario? It’s insulting to romance.”

“Rem.”

“I mean really, why can’t they just explain it instead of letting it blow way out of proportion like that?”

“Remy!”

“Hm?”

“How. Do. You. Know. Patton?” Virgil asked, slightly more calm yet more confused.

“Oh, he’s the guy from AA I wanted to set you up with. I didn’t know you guys worked together.”

Virgil’s jaw fell open. Patton, the ball of pure sunshine and energy…was a recovering alcoholic?

There was definitely way more he needed to learn about his new friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is encouraged! I'm always looking for ways to better my writing! 
> 
> Follow me on social media to motivate me to update:
> 
> Instagram: elderfisherprice  
> Tumblr: elderfisherprice  
> Snapchat: mcpriceleytho  
> Twitter: eld_fisherprice


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